Way back in “Tallahassee,” Hook told Emma that the big kahuna at the top of Fairy Land’s famous beanstalk – the only surviving member of his kind, played by Lost alum Jorge Garcia – was “the strongest and most terrible” of all the giants. In tonight’s episode, we found out that this was actually a tall tale: Anton, the guardian of that once all-important golden compass, is actually the runt of his giant litter, a leviathan puny enough to earn the nickname “Tiny.”

Beyond this amusing reveal, which itself seems borrowed from a few other sources – see Harry Potter’s Grawp or The B.F.G’s B.F.G. – the most recent episode of Once didn’t have a ton to offer, especially as the first hour back after a mini-hiatus. Like “In the Name of the Brother,” it spent precious time giving backstory about a character who didn’t really need more backstory; also like Once’s previous episode, it did little to move season 2’s master plot forward. But hey: At least we got more goofy-looking Giant Land CGI!

Rumpelstiltskin and Emma are getting ready to head to New York City, where the Dark One is hoping he’ll finally reunite with his long-lost son. Emma’s surprised to learn that when Rump says they’re going to fly, he doesn’t mean via bedknobs or broomsticks – he’s booked them a couple of tickets on a normal, human plane. There’s just one wrinkle: Emma is bringing Henry along, because she doesn’t feel comfortable leaving him in Storybrooke when Cora De Vil is lurking about. Ugh; you just know the kid is going to sing “The Song That Never Ends” all the way to the terminal.

Meanwhile, the Charmings are taking advantage of their daughter and grandson’s absence; finally, they don’t have to worry that anybody’s going to walk in on them getting intimate in that bed that’s inexplicably in the middle of their apartment. Just kidding! Instead, Snow and Charming are enlisting Grumpy and a sneering Hook to help them figure out where Cora is, or at least what she’s up to. The wounded pirate leads the crew to his invisible ship, which is unfortunately witchless – though it does contain Anton, who’s trapped inside of a flimsy-looking wooden cage. Too bad Sawyer isn’t in there with him.

Charming wants to awaken the sleeping giant – er, former giant; he’s shrunk to a size that’s almost normal – to find out what he knows about Cora’s plans. They poke Anton through the cage’s widely spaced bars so that they can question him without having to fear being attacked. Kidding again! Snow recklessly opens the cage’s door and touches Anton gently, telling him that he’s safe now. All seems well at first… until the giant spots Charming and starts freaking out, shouting that the prince will pay for the evil he’s done. He runs away before anybody gets seriously hurt, but still, our heroes are confused: Why is the big guy so angry at Storybrooke’s most noble good guy? (Maybe he’s a David/Kathryn shipper)